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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22828219">paper walls</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/alaudarum/pseuds/alaudarum'>alaudarum</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Chuseok, Domestic, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 13:08:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,891</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22828219</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/alaudarum/pseuds/alaudarum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hm… Arlington’s all national monuments and museums, isn’t it?  Last time I checked, you hated history.”</p>
<p>There’s a dangerous glower in Felix’s eyes, one that Sylvain’s learned is a warning for him to scale back.  Dogs curl their lips to reveal their fangs; cats arch their backs and thrash their tails.  Felix speaks with his eyes, narrowing them underneath creased brows, a telltale expression for warning others to back away.</p>
<p>“I still do,” Felix retorts.  “And -- you’ll find out when we get there, so stop <i>pestering</i> me.”</p>
<p>--</p>
<p>Sylvain finds himself invited on an impromptu road trip.  Felix has two things he needs to get done: it's the first time Felix has to do one alone, and it's the first time Felix has to do another at all.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>paper walls</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Title taken from "Paper Walls" by Yellowcard.  Beta'd by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/refleurir/">@refleurir</a> who bravely took up the task of hacking my long sentences into shorter, better ones.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The nice thing about having a roommate is if you persuade them to go grocery shopping with you, you’ll have two sets of hands to carry the groceries back instead of one.  Sylvain simply can’t be bothered with physically driving there, not when the store is literally right down the street. In any event, he looks forward to those weekly trips because it means Felix, after getting off of work, is stuck with him for a whole hour.  It’s not unusual for Felix to remain silent on their way home, only cutting into the conversation to nitpick about something silly Sylvain’s said, or provide an acerbic reply to an invitation for response.</p>
<p>Today is different though.  Today, they’re returning from a weekly grocery run, but Felix provides wholly noncommittal responses to Sylvain’s banter, all shrugs and general sounds of agreement or disagreement depending on what the situation called for.  And because it’s Felix, Sylvain chooses not to push, patiently waiting for Felix to come around and open up about what was on his mind. His patience is rewarded, for after giving a quiet, “Sure,” reply in response to asking whether they could have curry for dinner, Felix finally stops in his tracks to tug on Sylvain’s jacket sleeve.</p>
<p>“Sylvain?” Felix begins, and though Sylvain had spent the entirety of their walk home waiting for this very moment, he feigns ignorance and glances over his shoulder.</p>
<p>“Yeah, Fe?” he asks, turning to face Felix.</p>
<p>Felix does not speak immediately, as though working on carefully gathering his thoughts.  The conflicted expression on his face almost makes Sylvain want to tell him it’s fine, he doesn’t need to say anything that he doesn’t want to say, but because it’s Felix, his only reward to that statement would be an angry growl warning him not to tell him what to do.  Instead, Felix drops his gaze away from Sylvain before starting again.</p>
<p>“Sylvain, I’m -- ” He pauses, again, as though searching for the correct words.</p>
<p>To afford the situation a bit of levity, Sylvain interjects with, “We’re already dating, Fe.  You don’t need to ask me to be your boyfriend or anything. Crossed that bridge already -- ” The comment earns Sylvain a hard jab in the shoulder, but he figured he deserved as much.</p>
<p>“Can’t you be serious for two minutes?” Felix grumbles, but settles down quickly enough.  “It’s… about this weekend. I’m taking a trip down to Virginia, and I want you to come with me.”  He posits the request as a demand, but Sylvain knows it’s because Felix still isn’t used to asking for things from others.  And in any event, maybe Felix already knows that Sylvain won’t turn him down.</p>
<p>Sylvain transfers one of his shopping bags to the other hand, all for the sake of raising a hand to rub the back of his neck with his free hand.  The other hand clutches two bulging reusable bags of produce. He flips through his mental catalogue of everything that needs to get done. “I usually work on Fridays, but I can ask my boss how he feels about me working remotely.  Besides, I don’t need to be in the office to do research.  Bet I could even get Annette to look after Alice too.”</p>
<p>Even if there were more pressing matters he needed to take care of, he’d reschedule those commitments to make space for Felix’s impromptu trip. After all, it’s not every day that he finds himself with a request-demand from Felix, one that has him looking uncharacteristically unsure of himself.  As for Alice, the pup who was Sylvain's sole source of company before Felix moved in, Annette always stepped up to the plate to dog-sit.  Sylvain is beginning to suspect she likes Alice more than she likes him.</p>
<p>He clears those thoughts from his mind though, smiling reassuringly, because he knows Felix likely isn’t making this request lightly. Felix isn’t quite persuaded just yet.</p>
<p>“Gautier Senior, giving you a day off?” he asks, arching a brow.  Sylvain’s father is the spitting opposite of his son, notorious for his workaholic schedule and cutthroat hardball techniques.  Where Sylvain would likely crutch on his charisma into shepherding a jury’s attention, his father commanded a courtroom’s attention through the sheer force of his imposing presence.  “Hasn’t he been on your ass more than usual because you’re graduating soon to join his firm?”</p>
<p>Sylvain winks.  “Yeah, well, assuming I pass the bar first go.  But don’t worry. I have my ways. A little behind-the-scenes give and take, so I’m sure it’ll be fine,” he replies breezily, and before Felix’s imagination can start conjuring up all sorts of blackmail Sylvain might have on his own father, Sylvain quickly swoops in with, “All I’m saying is me <em>actually</em> checking in with him can go a long way.  But either way, I’m surprised. You <em>do</em> know that means you’ll be stuck in a car with me for a good four hours one-way, right?”</p>
<p>That gets a sly grin out of Felix, and though Sylvain would never admit it, he’s relieved to see that expression.  “Good. Then you can drive us back to the city.”</p>
<p>If it hadn’t been for his earlier conflicted expressions, Felix stood a chance of hiding his ulterior motives. But because of that expression, Sylvain knows Felix is lying by omission.  That’s how it’s always been, with the two of them dancing in circles around the people in their lives. When it came to each other though, it was impossible to hide anything.</p>
<p>Despite his earlier grin, Felix finds himself dissatisfied with how easily that discussion went over.  So he pushes Sylvain, as he is wont to do, because he’s made the habit of self-sabotaging any hint of a request he’d dare to make from others.  “You’re not going to use that extra time to do your assignments then? Don’t you have like a hundred pages to read every other day, or something?”</p>
<p>Sylvain steps back to Felix’s side, slinging an arm comfortably over his shoulders.  “Well, fortunately for you, I read pretty quickly. And I can read in the car while you’re driving, so I guess I <em>will</em> be driving us back then!  Now that that’s settled, tell me, what’s in Virginia that’s got you dying to see what’s out there? Where in Virginia are we headed to?”</p>
<p>“Arlington,” Felix replies in a level tone while pushing Sylvain’s arm off his shoulders, as though he’d rehearsed this conversation in his head for the past few days.  Despite rejecting that form of physical contact, Felix stays in step with Sylvain. Sylvain does not reattempt sliding his arm over Felix’s shoulders, because he knows walking side by side is practically the same as handholding when it comes to Felix, especially when both of them are carrying bags of their weekly food supply.</p>
<p>Sylvain knows nothing about Arlington, Virginia.  He thinks there must be a handful of museums there, but Felix has never been one to suddenly book a trip southbound for the sake of seeing a rickety schoolhouse that should <em>probably</em> be put out of its misery.  While it was reasonable for Felix to take an interest in an obscure exhibit displaying historical weaponry from around the world, Sylvain is nearly ninety-percent sure the majority of museums in that area were probably colonial-era museums.</p>
<p>Sylvain is pretty sure Felix’s most-hated high school class was history.  Frankly, the response hadn’t surprised Sylvain, not when Felix openly scorned the teachings of the past.</p>
<p>“Arlington?” Sylvain repeats while matching his stride with Felix’s.  “What’s out in Arlington?”</p>
<p>Felix shrugs.  “You’ll see when we get there.”</p>
<p>“Hm… Arlington’s all national monuments and museums, isn’t it?  Last time I checked, you hated history.”</p>
<p>There’s a dangerous glower in Felix’s eyes, one that Sylvain’s learned is a warning for him to scale back.  Dogs curl their lips to reveal their fangs; cats arch their backs and thrash their tails. Felix speaks with his eyes, narrowing them underneath creased brows, a telltale expression for warning others to back away.</p>
<p>“I still do,” Felix retorts.  “And -- you’ll find out when we get there, so stop <em>pestering</em> me.”</p>
<p>Sylvain arches a brow, pushing his luck, toeing the line of Felix’s temper out of habit.  “You’re really not going to tell me then?”</p>
<p>“Give up.  I don’t want to talk about it.  You’ll find out when we get there.”  Perhaps if his hands weren’t occupied with bags stuffed with groceries, Felix would have slipped them into his jeans pockets.  Sylvain knows that gesture too, just like when Felix won’t look him in the eye. It means the conversation is done and over, as Felix unconsciously cuts off any opportunities for Sylvain to coax him into being more open through employing the carrot of subtle physical contact.</p>
<p>Sometimes, all Sylvain has to do is reassuringly rub the back of Felix’s hand, and it’s enough to persuade Felix to finally spit out whatever’s resting on the tip of his tongue.  Despite his reputation for being completely unabashed at dealing the fiercest of tongue-lashings, Sylvain knows Felix keeps a tremendous amount of his private or self-conscious thoughts to himself.</p>
<p>Felix's fingers curl tighter around his bags' handles, shoulders rigid with so much tension that even Sylvain is relieved they’ve made it back home.  They’ll fall into their typical routines, Felix taking over dinner preparations as Sylvain gets up to speed with his assignments. In return, Sylvain packs Felix lunch, finding a simple pleasure, much to Felix’s chagrin, in drawing ketchup hearts and smiley faces all over his stowed rice.</p>
<p>As soon as Sylvain slides his key into the lock, a muffled bark stirs from behind the door.  It swings open, revealing an excited beagle whose tail wags at a thousand miles per hour, and despite <em>technically</em> being Sylvain's pet, the pup wholeheartedly ignores her owner and springs at Felix's shins instead.  Sylvain suspects that, despite having the innate sense for distinguishing cat and dog people, she chose to exclusively shove her wet nose in the faces of cat people.  Fortunately, Felix prefers <em>all</em> animals over people, so he crouches down to give the dog a quick head scratch before slipping his shoes off.</p>
<p>“Hello to you too, Alice,” Felix says, acknowledging the dog's greeting before following Sylvain into the kitchen.</p>
<p>They set the grocery bags on the kitchen table.  It’s been half a year since Sylvain started buying groceries for two, and though Felix occasionally grumbles that Sylvain only persuaded him to move in to make him food, the nights where Felix presses himself against Sylvain’s back and slides an arm over his waist tells him that’s not <em>really</em> what Felix thinks at all.  After all, Felix has always been the sort of person who took the adage “actions speak louder than words” a little <em>too</em> seriously.</p>
<p>Sylvain hasn’t seen Felix cry since the Fraldarius family received word that Glenn was presumed dead after getting deployed abroad.  The lack of tears at Rodrigue’s funeral were what made him grab Felix by the wrist, insisting he move into his Queens apartment.  </p>
<p>“Go get your work done,” Felix chides as he begins to rifle through the grocery bags, sorting each one’s contents according to what did and did not need to go into the refrigerator.  “I’ll call you when the curry’s done.”</p>
<p>“No need,” Sylvain replies, wandering off to the living room to retrieve his backpack.  He takes a seat off to the side of the table, ensuring he’s out of Felix’s way. “I was going to work in the kitchen anyways.”  And before Felix can chase him out of the kitchen, Sylvain sets about unceremoniously dumping a textbook and his laptop onto the dining table.</p>
<p>Felix shakes his head with a quiet sigh.  “Suit yourself,” he muses before moving to stow produce into the fridge.  Sylvain allows himself to watch Felix move about the kitchen before cracking his laptop open.  He knows Felix is most content when preoccupied with a task, even if that task is as menial as peeling potatoes and chopping carrots.  If asked, Sylvain would vehemently deny being worried about the faroff look Felix had in his eyes on their way home from the store. But in truth, Sylvain is watching Felix like a hawk, waiting for either insight on what they were going to see on their mystery road trip or a sign that Felix was feeling his usual touchy self again.</p>
<p>In fact, Sylvain still has an eye on Felix even while composing a terse email to his father.</p>
<p>Initially, he begins the email with a simple, “<em>Hi Dad</em>,” before tapping repeatedly on his keyboard’s backspace to replace the salutations with something drier.  After all, Gautier Senior’s sense of humor left much to be desired.</p>
<p>
  <em> Good evening, Victor, </em>
</p>
<p><em>I hope you are well.</em>  (Sylvain thinks the opening statement is laughable because Victor Gautier is <em>always</em> well, but he leaves it in for formality’s sake.)</p>
<p>
  <em> I will not be in the office this Friday, but I will email you my memo Thursday evening.  Also, I will handle Miklan’s case for the week. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Thank you, </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> - Sylvain Jose Gautier </em>
</p>
<p>There is no need for Sylvain to elaborate on what “Miklan’s case” is.  His father already knows, and Sylvain is positive that taking initiative in cleaning up the inevitable mess his brother will leave behind this week is more than enough to curry favor with his father.</p>
<p>Of course, Sylvain doesn’t quite know <em>what</em> mess Miklan will land in, only that it is practically guaranteed to happen.  Sylvain’s not a religious man, but he prays his father is in a good mood, hits send, and hopes for the best. And while a phone call may have sufficed, Sylvain firmly believes in the power of having things down in writing.</p>
<p>It doesn’t take long for the savory smell of curry to start filtering through the kitchen, signaling that the pot seated on the stovetop finally contained all its total ingredients, and Felix is simply waiting for it to simmer.  Sylvain is halfway through a set of class readings when the sound of a chair sliding backwards catches his attention. He glances up, just in time to see Felix drop into the wooden chair across the table.</p>
<p>Sylvan gives Felix a light kick in the shin with a slippered foot, but not before glancing under the table to make sure he wasn’t about to accidentally kick Alice instead.  “Care to hear what the great Justice Brandeis thinks about federal general common law?” he asks with a crooked grin, even though he already knows what Felix’s response is.</p>
<p>Felix pulls a face.  “Hell no,” he mutters, then pushes his chair away to get back up, backpedaling out of the conversation.  “I majored in computer science so I didn’t have to read.” But before he can bail, Sylvain slides another question into their conversation.</p>
<p>He sets his green mildliner down to drum his fingers on the surface of the table instead.  “Dimitri’s already given you Friday off then?” Sylvain asks.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Felix replies with a nod.  “If needed, I can just remote in after we get back.  It’s not like I can’t access the company servers from home.”  And there it is again, Felix averting his gaze, the little tell that Sylvain’s pieced together means there’s something underlying his next statement that he’s not willing to share.  “Dimitri knows I usually ask for a day off around this time of the year anyways.”</p>
<p>Sylvain lets it slide this time.  “It’s nice that Blaiddyd, Inc. is reasonable.  My old man works his poor associates like dogs in comparison.  It’s kind of sad, thinking I’ll be one of them in a few months.  Makes me want to shed a tear sometimes.”</p>
<p>Felix offers Sylvain a vague shrug before returning to the stovetop, giving the curry a few more stirs with a wooden spoon.  It blesses Sylvain with the opportunity to pick up his phone lying on the table, shooting off a quick message to an old, mutual friend of theirs.</p>
<p>&gt; <em>felix suddenly sprung a road trip to virginia on me</em></p>
<p>Ever reliable, Ingrid’s response appears a minute later on the phone’s screen.</p>
<p>&gt; <em>Isn’t it Chuseok this week?</em></p>
<p>&gt; <em>what? what’s that supposed to mean</em></p>
<p>&gt; <em>Honestly, Sylvain, you’re impossible.  Look into it if you want, but either way don’t ask Felix too many questions.</em></p>
<p>&gt; <em>wait, so you know?  why can’t you just tell me why felix is being so dodgy?</em></p>
<p>Ingrid puts her foot down.  Sylvain wonders how he’s managed to befriend some of the most stubborn people on the face of the planet.</p>
<p>&gt; <em>He must have his reasons, and I want to respect them.  That’s all I’ll say on that.</em></p>
<p>Sylvain knows better than to push her into divulging more information.  He’s not quite sure why the people around him have decided to conspire in hiding the ball from him about Felix’s weekend plans.  Fortunately, Sylvain is patient, because without that patience, Felix would never have turned to him after Rodrigue’s sudden passing earlier that year.</p>
<p>So instead of pressing Felix again, Sylvain settles on, “Hey, you know you can tell me anything, right?  I just want to make sure you know that.”</p>
<p>And there it is: Felix glances over his shoulder, eyes softening for the first time tonight.  It’s because of that expression that Sylvain knows Felix is telling the whole truth.</p>
<p>“I know, Sylvain.  I know.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thought very long and hard about a specific detail regarding the Fraldarius family, but if I go too in-depth now I'll give things away.......  If you're familiar with Chuseok, the answer is yes, you probably have a good idea where this fic is going to end up.  As an aside, I intend to write based on my own personal knowledge + how my own family celebrates the holiday!</p>
<p>ty if you so choose to leave kudos or a comment o7</p>
<p>Find me at <a href="https://twitter.com/dualcaster">@dualcaster</a> on Twitter!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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